Making Amends
by Razzle
Summary: Ginny Weasley decides to do something nice for Moaning Myrtle to make up for throwing Tom Riddle's diary through her head. Set at the end of book 2, just before the students go home for summer holiday. Fluff!


Ginny clutched the small, wrapped package in her hand as she walked through the halls of Hogwarts. She had begged Fred and George to fetch the small gift for her on their last trip to Hogsmeade, since she was too young to go herself as a first-year student. They had been good sports about it and agreed without hesitation. Buying the gift had used up weeks and weeks of Ginny's one-Sickle-a-week allowance at one Galleon, but it was worth it. With a quick glance around to make sure she was alone, Ginny pushed open the door to the girl's bathroom and stepped in.

The only sounds were that of a toilet repeatedly flushing and rather insincere moaning, so Ginny suspected that Moaning Myrtle was in a reasonably good mood.

Ginny quietly cleared her throat, then called softly, "Myrtle?"

The ghost of the young girl poked her head out eagerly through the closed door of the stall the flushing sounds had been coming from a moment before, then pouted when she saw Ginny. "I was hoping that someone would come and see me before everybody left for the summer," Myrtle said, floating the rest of the way into view, "but why did it have to be _you?_"

This seemed a little ungrateful and pretty unfair to Ginny. "I'm sorry," she said a little defensively, her face reddening a little.

Myrtle didn't seem to notice. She sighed wistfully and continued, "Harry... And Oliver was cute, too. I wonder why he stopped visiting? Oh, that's right. I suppose he'll have graduated by now. He did say something about that last year." Myrtle giggled and floated in a circle by the ceiling. "Of course, Remus and his friends were a hoot, always getting into trouble, the adorable rascals." Her tone suggested that Myrtle was referring to a string of crushes. Ginny recognized the name Oliver as Gryffindor's old quidditch captain--Ron had told her all about it last summer. And Harry, of course... She supposed that the other boy and his friends that Myrtle had mentioned must have been Hogwarts students as well. Realizing that Myrtle's dismissive statement to her had been romantic rather than personal made Ginny feel somewhat better. She decided to ignore it.

With a long, moaning sigh Myrtle spiraled down to the floor again and hovered in front of Ginny, staring at her solemnly and somewhat woefully through her large glasses. "But I suppose you'll do."

A bit taken aback, Ginny held out the small present she'd brought with her.

Myrtle's eyes widened in surprise. "For me?" she cooed, beginning to sniffle a bit. She eagerly accepted the package and unwrapped it. Blinking uncertainly, she held up a thin silver chain with a small pendant in the shape of half a heart torn down the middle dangling from it. On one side, there were letters engraved which said, 'ny d tle,' and on the other side, it said 'dship s no nds.' Myrtle looked back at Ginny. "A broken heart?" she asked in a morbidly quizzical tone.

"It's a friendship charm," Ginny explained, finding her voice. "I've got the other half." She reached into the neck of her school robe and pulled out the pendant of the charm she was wearing. "They go together." Ginny reached out with her free hand and Myrtle drifted closer, holding out the charm she'd just gotten. Ginny took it, with Myrtle still holding on to the chain of the necklace, and put the two pendants next to each other. Together, they made a whole heart with the words engraved on one side, 'Ginny and Myrtle,' and on the other side, 'Friendship knows no bounds.'

Myrtle's eyes lit up as she took her charm back again, looking at it with new appreciation.

Ginny grinned. "Now let me show you what it does!" She closed her hand around the charm she was wearing, and Myrtle's charm glowed a faint rosy pink. Ginny opened her mouth and began speaking. No sound came from her lips, but it was as if she was whispering in Myrtle's ear. "I'm really sorry I threw that book at you. My brother, Ron, told me what happened. I didn't know you were down there--I just wanted to get rid of it!" The horror of her close brush with death at Voldemort's wand was still fresh in Ginny's mind. She felt a rush of affinity with this girl the dark wizard had killed with his terrible basilisk fifty years ago. "Anyway," she continued. "I _am_ sorry."

Myrtle giggled in delight at the charm's magic. She grabbed her own charm pendant in her hand and used it to whisper back, "That's all right. I forgive you. Tee hee hee!" She dropped the necklace over her head and tucked the charm into the front of her transparent school robe.

Ginny smiled gratefully. "I'm glad," she said, again in her normal voice. "I've got to go," she continued regretfully, also tucking her charm away again. "The train will be arriving soon, and I need to get my things from the dormitory." She put a hand over her chest, where the pendant rested beneath her school robe. "But you can talk to me anytime, Myrtle."

Myrtle nodded, and the two girls waved to each other, then with a long, exuberant scream she flew through the air in a spiral or two before diving with a dramatic splash into one of the toilets.

Ginny peeked out into the hallway, and seeing it empty quickly left the girl's bathroom and hurried back to her room to pick up her trunk and cauldron full of books.

On the train home on her way back to the Burrow for the summer, Ginny stared out the window at the beautiful countryside rolling by. Her new friend, Luna Lovegood, sat on the seat across from her, reading an issue of the Quibbler. It was odd to see her holding it right side up for once, but Luna had said she felt like doing something different for a change. Ginny was just imagining sitting around the table at home with her family, with Bill and Charlie home to visit and Percy slipping bits of food to Errol off his plate as he always did when he thought no one was catching him at having any fun, when she felt a warm tingle against her chest. She pulled out her charm and looked at it, unsurprised to see it was glowing. Smiling, she gently closed her hand around it and said, "What is it, Myrtle?"


End file.
